Records: the Evolution of Government
'Applied Capacity' By 1378, the Books of Learning were applied directly to lessons of governing: management and administration of quickly growing leadership entity. Much of the reasoning behind fuedal baronies, from point of view of the Crown, was to install self-sustaining management into the region – and inventivize it to get done to minimum standards. The standards in this case were listed in The Domesday Book. Record-keeping, from names and property listings, was the basis for tax collection. That, in turn, often required law enforcement, so they could rely on the locals for regional defense and so on. It was simply a systematic realization of the Social Contract. With the Crown taking on increased responsibility, where there was no responsibility right now, they were setting standards that had no local precedent. The Plantagenets had inside information, best practices and lessons learned, and now they were creating a foundation that would lead to development. And with magic, much faster development than would've been experienced otherwise. 'Crown Lands' Technically, anything that didn't have a city charter or wasn't otherwise administered in the House of Lords by part of the baronage/peerage was a demesne (domain) or Crown Lands. The management was usually conducted by a lord of the manor, who would have a sheriff and their deputies to enforce the laws, and justices of the peace who were essentially subordinates. This evolution of government was a sea change in business. Administration, justice and so on was now set to be standardized under one rule of law, kingdom-wide. This systematic approach would ensure just and fair application of the law, as well as more efficient tax collection, uniform law enforcement and so on. It also meant that business of government was increasingly business-like. The Royal Court had already begun to diverge, especially in England, where Queen Joan maintained the social half, often acting as a filter, staging or holding area for the courtiers before they were given audience to the king. The Queen's Court was indeed a spectacular social jubilee, a carnival and grand ball all rolled into one. The King's court was administrative, security and military. The difference was essentially nightclub versus board room. The Revision of City Charters City Charters were close to sacrosanct, but the City of London had a special relationship with the Crown, starting ages ago and especially now. As the Palace of Westminster was rebuilt – and it promised to be massive – King Edward renegotiated the charter with the city of London. The community was already the origin of the City of London Corporation and the citizens gained the right to appoint, with the king's consent, a Mayor in 1189—and to directly elect the Mayor from 1215. They retained the right of representation, but the revised Charter of London absorbed the history of the original agreement, which predated known documentation, to include the 886 AD Wessex resettlement. The Crown was adding Rights of Eminent Domain among other clauses, and mostly to streamline city defense and tax collection. The tax collection was a necessary evil to be able to maintain the defense, and right now, the defense was complicated. The Regiment of St. George, for instance, wasn't technically in the City of London – it was across the river, on the south side of the Thames, where there was a great deal more wiggle room with real estate. Hosting a garrison necessitated trade-offs, and right now, London was eager to make the tradeoffs to keep their defenders nearby. 'London absorbs Southwark' The Town of Southwark, just across the London Bridge – and now with it’s own city walls under construction – was officially absorbed by the City of London, but retained sub-rights as a London borough. Given the renegotiations all around, the new Charter of London brought advantages to the south half that had only been marginally available. There was some maneuvering to this as the southern shores of the Thames were actually in the County of Surrey. At this point, London was evolving away from a traditional English chartered city and into a Joint Powers Authority. It was another strong sign of the growth of complexity in the act of governing itself. 'The First Instances of Federalization' England, with it's baronage/peerage, was looking like it would become a federalized country. The components represented different peers, though there would be commonalities to them all and ultimately one central source of authority. Given the taxes that were now coming in, the Crown was now inclined to begin more careful administration. The Crown chose seven English counties counties, all of which had been attached to others in the original timeline (and this time, were not): 'Yorkshire' *With this development, Yorkshire would never have a Duke of York. Also known as the County of York, it was the largest single shire in England. After the Catholic divestiture forced the separation of Church and state, it was only a matter of time before Crown management was required to be intimately hands-on in the area. 'Gloucestershite' *With this development, Gloucestershire would never have a Duke of Gloucester. or the county of Gloucester. Strategically south of Wales, this was the 17th largest county in the England. On the western coast, it wrapped around the mouth of the River Severn, between Cornwall and Wales. 'Nottinghamshire' *With this development, Nottinghamshire (or Notts) would never have an Earl of Nottingham. The 26th largest shire, it was just south of York. York and Notts were the only two federalized counties that had any connected border. 'Huntingdonshire' *With this development, Huntingdonshire (Hunts) would never have an Earl of Huntingdon. The 37th largest shire in England, it was located in the west central portion of England. After Nottingham, it had a wry nod to the legend of Robin Hood. 'Northumberland' *With this development, Northumberland would never have an Earl of Northumberland. Northumberland was the 5th largest, and the northernmost tip of England on the North Sea side. Leicestershire * Reacquired by the Crown when the title of Earl of Leicester was revoked and the lands of Leicestershire (central England) were confiscated from John of Gaunt during the 1376 Audit and Rectification. Derbyshire * Derbyshire was another central-England county, just a little southeast of Lancashire. Like Leicestershire, the Earl of Derby was a former John of Gaunt title, also returned to the Crown during the 1376 A&R. 'The Commonalities' Each county would be administered by an executive authority on behalf of the Crown. Each of these managers would be a House Plantagenet professional known as a Lord Lieutenant. This was an appointed position, the equivalent of count/earl, but that was not a heritable position. Each Lord Lieutenant would be personally elevated to a baron. That was not a heritable position, but it was a life-long title. All seven of those English Counties would be represented in the House of Lords. When the peerage worried about the Crown trying to stack parliament votes against them, Edward IV accepted compromise that these first seven would have a single vote instead of seven. This person would be the Governor-General of the English Crown (GGEC). The GGEC was a voting member, but with only one vote to represent 7 counties, the perception was that his power was diluted. The dilution was technically true, though as a 7-county Lord, the GGEC was arguably the second most powerful man in England behind the Sovereign. That dilution was also one of the checks and balances of Crown influence, especially consider the Crown automatically held a 25% bloc of the House of Lords. The GGEC was in close counsel with the King and Lord Chamberlain, though they were separate offices and difference of opinion could happen and were sometimes hashed out in view of Parliament. 'The English Palatine Counties' Under Crown Prince Edward of Angouleme, there were two additional counties that were considered for inclusion: *Cornwall, the 15th largest county, was also the furthest, most southwesterly corner of England (with Penzance at it's tip). Per the Plantagenet recognition of identity, it was still an unknown exactly what they were going to do with this area in the future. Leaving it a duchy was still a possibility, but there was also a possibility of a principality, and unlikley but not impossible, a minor sovereignty. *Cheshire, the 25th largest of 48 English counties. Located in North West England, it bordered Merseyside and Greater Manchester to the north, Derbyshire to the east, Staffordshire and Shropshire to the south and Flintshire, Wales and Wrexham county borough to the west. At the moment, Cheshire was a strong candidate for federalization, but if they rolled it in, there would be questions about Cornwall, and an appearance of indecision if they said "I don't know." In this case, the best decision regarding the personal assignment of the Crown Prince was to simply retain them in his portfolio. Aquitaine Was Following Suit Aquitaine not only had distance, but as a palatinate on the cusp of a sovereignty, now installed the groundwork for a regional parliament of their own. There had been regional parlements spread across France, though in the 14th century, with ever-increasing monarchical absolutism of the Ancien Régime, there was only the Parlement of Paris. Sessions were held inside the medieval royal palace on the Île de la Cité. Also notable, French parlements were more broad-ranging appeals courts rather than legislative bodies, but that did include elements such as local taxation. Aquitaine had an interesting position of being under English feudal authority, though ultimately within the Kingdom of France. That meant local political custom was more French, with management conducted by the English. The States-General, then, were advisory councils to the king (with no true power), though in numbers, held influence. It had a separate assembly for each of the three estates (clergy, nobility and commoners), which were called and dismissed by the king. Crafting the Aquitaine Magna Carta All three Estates General were present in Bordeaux, with local aristocracy, the de-temporalized Church, and regional civic leaders from around the French Plantagenet holdings. This was wicked revolutionary for the area, and while the rumors of break-away sovereignty had been circulating, this was pure treason. It was also defended with no less than the Bordeaux, Bayonne and Le Mans Arms of Aquitaine. The Coronet Palatine was asking the Aquitaine commons to do more and give more (in taxes), and in return, was giving due consideration of their voice and their concerns. Prince Rick was outlawing slaves and serfs, and giving representation to those who never had it. The Kingdom of Aquitaine would be populated by free men. That created a kind of excitement that pulled people out their home town and all the way to Bordeaux. This kept people up at night, too excited to fall asleep, too worried to believe it could ever happen. In return, though, the Estates had the duty to be informed. They had a duty to exercise their rights. And they had a duty to defend their nation. Aquitaine, especially the commons, were lining up behind the Prince. Regional Subdivisions Gascony and Guyenne were two massive areas, with few recognized subdivisions within. The region had a wildly varied interpretation of the jurisdictions within, from Kingdom to principality to county. They were looking ahead now, with current aristocratic families defining borders for their sphere of influence, while the rest was assumed by the Coronet, then further subdivided into management and defense jurisdictions. As those subdivisions were created, the recent English federalization measures were introduced across Aquitaine as well. There were many who observed this change in policy may as well have been created by Prince Rick. Given that it was a government expense that increased efficiency, yes, but without guarantee of increase in revenue, it took someone like Rick to think outside the system about the long-term benefits.Category:Hall of Records Category:1378